Wisconsin

Wisconsin women’s hockey dominates vs. No. 3 Minnesota, expects a tough game Sunday

Published

1 year ago

February 8, 2025

Wisconsin women’s hockey dominates vs. No. 3 Minnesota, expects a tough game Sunday

MADISON – On senior day, against one of the best women’s hockey teams in the country, Wisconsin had a chance to wrap up its 10^th WCHA regular-season championship Saturday.

Might as well seal it all with a rout.

“I think regardless of the outcome today, there’s already so many emotions with senior day across the board, but I think we did a really good job of focusing in once the game started and kind of shutting those emotions out,” senior center Casey O’Brien said after the top-ranked Badgers erupted for an 8-2 victory over No. 3 Minnesota.

“And then I think right away, in the first period, we like felt just like we were playing so much lighter than maybe the past few weekends, and everything was clicking. And so there’s really no better way to end senior day than with a regular-season title. And so I think we’re all just happy that we kind of found our game again and played really well today.”

Wisconsin (28-1-2, 22-1-2 WCHA) suffered its only loss in November to No. 2 Ohio State. The past two weekends, though, the Badgers have played to a 2-2 tie with St. Cloud State and edged Minnesota Duluth, 2-1, in a pair of games, the second in overtime.

“Sometimes you kind of get the dog days of winter, and the season’s so long, so sometimes that just catches up too,” O’Brien said of the previous two weekends. “But I also think, like St. Cloud and Duluth play a really physical, really hard game, and so sometimes that slows the game down for us and can get us frustrated. And so I think things just opened up a little bit today for us.”

Wisconsin’s Casey O’Brien, Laila Edwards lead nation in scoring

Twelve Badgers figured in the scoring. Junior right wing Laila Edwards got UW on the scoreboard first at 4:01 of the first period and, like O’Brien, finished with two goals. Edwards added two assists, and junior left wing Kirsten Simms also had a four-point game with four assists.

Edwards is the leading goal scorer in NCAA Division I with 28 plus 31 assists, and O’Brien leads overall scoring with 62 points on 20 goals and 42 assists.

“I thought the energy level was high being senior day, knowing there’s a lot of energy in the building,” coach Mark Johnson said. “So can we get off to a good start from the get-go?

“Other than maybe the first power play that we had early in the game, we played well. I was looking for 60 consecutive minutes of play and got most of that probably. I wasn’t expecting eight goals.”

Sophomore goaltender Ava McNaughton made 18 saves on 20 Minnesota shots on goal, one in the first period that made it 2-1 and the other early in the third period that made it 7-2.

UW celebrates with pictures … and a surprise

Afterward the Badgers accepted the trophy from WCHA commissioner and posed for photos at center ice, although Edwards initially was caught off guard.

“I think I knew a couple days ago,” she said, “but during the game, I didn’t even think about it, so I was ready to get off the ice, and I see this big silver thing coming on.”

Wisconsin women’s hockey team has three games left in the regular season

Minnesota (22-7-1, 16-6-1) and Wisconsin wrap up their season series at noon Sunday. UW swept the series in Minneapolis in October, 5-0 and 4-3.

Saturday’s game was reminiscent of the first game of the Badgers’ January series against No. 2 Ohio State, when UW won, 6-0, at LaBahn. Then the teams played two nights later at Wrigley Field, where they tied and OSU won the shootout.

“We know they’re going to come all hard tomorrow,” Edwards said. “No one likes to get beat 8-2, especially the Gophers, when you’re rivals. So we just got to be ready for tomorrow. And I think if we play like that, we can beat any team.”

Then Wisconsin has a weekend off before finishing its WCHA regular season Feb. 21-22 against Bemidji State in Bemidji, Minnesota.

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Wisconsin

Shipwreck Coast sanctuary council to meet July 16 in Sheboygan

Published

3 hours ago

July 10, 2026

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Shipwreck Coast sanctuary council to meet July 16 in Sheboygan

Residents can attend the July 16 meeting in Sheboygan or submit written comments by email to NOAA.

Nida Tazeen
| Sheboygan Press

The Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council will hold a meeting in Sheboygan on July 16.
The meeting will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Sheboygan County Museum and is open to the public.
A public comment period is scheduled, and comments can also be submitted via email.
NOAA staff will provide updates on sanctuary programs, research and community engagement.

SHEBOYGAN – Residents can attend or comment on an upcoming meeting of the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council scheduled for July 16 in Sheboygan.

The gathering will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Sheboygan County Museum, 3110 Erie Ave., according to a community announcement. Members of the public are invited to attend and observe discussions.

The agenda includes routine council business, updates from working groups, community reports and briefings from NOAA staff on sanctuary programs, research and upcoming events.

Public can provide comments during meeting

A public comment period is planned for about 7:50 p.m., giving attendees a chance to share feedback directly with council members.

Those unable to attend may submit written comments by email to jean.prevo@noaa.gov, according to the announcement.

Council shares updates on sanctuary programs

NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries will provide updates tied to the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary, including research initiatives and community engagement efforts.

More information about the council and its activities is available online at sanctuaries.noaa.gov.

This story was created by reporter Nida Tazeen, NTazeen@usatodayco.com , with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.

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A Wisconsin family is suing Target after their 10-month-old died from swallowing a water bead

Published

14 hours ago

July 10, 2026

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A Wisconsin family is suing Target after their 10-month-old died from swallowing a water bead

A Wisconsin family lost their ten-month-old daughter after she swallowed a water bead. They blame Target and the water bead manufacturer for her death.

This week, Taylor and Tyler Bethard filed a lawsuit against Target in Hennepin County, claiming that the company failed to warn them and other customers about the dangers of a water beads product that used to be sold exclusively at Target.

Water beads are marketed as toys that come with sensory kits or craft sets, but data shows the products are prone to injuring young children. The polymer material is extremely absorbent, allowing water beads – which are often colorful – to expand around 100 times their original size when they interact with water or liquid. This presents a hazard for kids; the United States Product Safety Commission states that between 2017 and 2022, there were 6,300 water bead-related ingestion injuries that required treatment from emergency departments across the country.

In 2023, a 10-month-old girl died. Her name is Esther “Jo” Bethard. According to court filings, Taylor Bethard found her daughter unresponsive in her crib on the morning of July 7, 2023, after she had suffered symptoms of a stomach illness overnight. Medical examiners told the family that her death was caused by swallowing a single water bead.

The Bethards had purchased a Chuckle and Roar water bead set in the spring of 2022 for Esther Jo’s older siblings, never intending for the infant to interact with the water beads.

Target and the Chuckle and Roar manufacturer, Buffalo Games LLC, mutually agreed to pull the product from the shelves in November of 2022. Court records show an email exchange between Buffalo Games and a product safety employee at Target where the manufacturer noted that while their water beads had met safety standards at the time, they wanted to “avoid any future unintended misuse of the product.”

That conversation was prompted after Buffalo Games was informed that an infant required surgery after ingesting a water bead from the Ultimate Water Beads kit. Target agreed to end sales, indicating that this would be classified as a “safety removal.”

The Bethard’s lawsuit alleges that Target clearly knew how dangerous these water beads could be, but failed to warn them or other customers. Target stopped selling the product about eight months before Esther Jo died. Daniel Mann, a personal injury attorney representing the Bethards in this case, said that Esther Jo would still be alive if Target had acted.

“With all this information Target didn’t do anything to reach out to the family or other consumers to let them know about this problem,” Mann said, “I think 10/10 people would say Target had a responsibility to do more than what they did, which was nothing.”

A spokesperson for Target said that they would not comment on ongoing litigation, but the company had already responded to an identical complaint filed by the Bethards in the State of New York. In 2025, the Bethards sued both Target and Buffalo Games in Erie County, N.Y., because that was where the manufacturer was based. In response to the lawsuit there, court filings show that Target denied the allegations that they knew of an extraordinary danger posed by the water beads and failed to notify customers.

The complaint was dismissed against Target in New York, Mann explained, due to jurisdiction. This lead to them refiling in Hennepin County this week.

In a statement to WCCO on the new legal action, a Target spokesperson said “We extend our deepest sympathies to those affected by this tragedy, and we worked closely with the manufacturer of the product at the time the incident occurred.”

Taylor Bethard, Esther Jo’s mother, has lead the charge to ban water beads entirely. Her efforts lead to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commision recalling the more than 52,000 Chuckle and Roar Ultimate Water Beads Activity Kits that were in circulation. The recall took effect in September of 2023. Target, Walmart and Amazon announced that they would stop marketing water beads to children.

Bethard is also working with Wisconsin U.S. State Senator Tammy Baldwin to establish federal legislation to permanently outlaw all water beads. This past spring, the CPSC established new legal guidelines that restrict the size of water beads to try to ensure high safety standards.

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Wisconsin State Patrol rides with truck and bus drivers to spot violations in five areas

Published

24 hours ago

July 9, 2026

Press Room

Wisconsin State Patrol rides with truck and bus drivers to spot violations in five areas

(WLUK) — Wisconsin State Patrol troopers are teaming up with truckers to better spot dangerous driving behaviors.

The annual Trooper in a Truck initiative kicks off next week in Wisconsin.

Troopers will ride along with with semitruck and bus drivers to use the higher vantage point to spot dangerous driving behaviors, especially near commercial motor vehicles.

Troopers will be looking for risky driving behaviors, including distracted driving, speeding, following too closely and seatbelt violations. When an officer identifies a violation from the truck or bus, they will radio to patrol cars in the area for appropriate enforcement action.

Drivers can expect to see Trooper in a Truck enforcement in the following areas:

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